Monday, September 29, 2008

I really don't have much to say. Gabbie was a little sick this weekend. It appears to be allergies so we are back on the Allegra. Poor baby gets to coughing so much she vomits. Tonight I had the honor of catching some of it. So it has been a blast around here. No pictures from this weekend. I took the camera to grandma's but never took any pictures. Gabbie would probably have had snot on her face and I am not a fan of snotty pictures. Ever since Gabbie's birthday party she has been obsessed with water balloons. She is still addicted to band-aids but water balloons are a close second.

These were taken last week. She loves to take the water balloons in the tub. Silly girl and silly daddy!

Please ignore the tile around the tub. Steve is remodeling this bathroom this Spring. He just remodeled our master bath and did an amazing job! Soon he will start on Gabbie's and the half bath downstairs.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

Saturday we met up with some friends and took Gabbie to the balloon races in Forest Park. Every year in September at the park there is a balloon glow on Friday night and the race is on Saturday. There are 60-70 hot air balloons which take off little by little with a goal to land closest to the Bunny balloon.

This was actually Gabbie's second year going. She had a lot of fun eating, playing, and watching the balloons. She was really so good. We stayed in one spot with chairs and a blanket and she played right on the blanket the whole time. I was nervous she would try to wander off, especially when we got there and the first announcement I heard was to look for a 3 year old boy who was lost! But surprisingly enough Gabbie was great and we had a really good time.

Now for pictures. The first two are from last year.

She had only been walking a few weeks when this was taken last year.

This year! I am amazed by the change. She is still my same baby girl but she is growing up. She was so intense at times watching the balloons.

Playing with daddy

On daddy's shoulders watching the balloons.

Here is the bunny balloon which is Gabbie's favorite of course. Unfortunately this year it didn't fly. But they did inflate it so all of the kids got to see it.

Gabbie had such a good time. We left the house at 1 and didn't get home until 7:30. She was so good until after waiting in traffic for about 20 minutes when she decided she wanted to get out of her car seat and she wiggled her arms out. Daddy got in the back with her and buckled her in. We then promised McD's and she got better. Once she got her fries and milk she was just fine!

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Two years ago today I was recovering from a tetanus shot. It was HORRIBLE. My arm was aching and I was running a fever. Two years ago today we were also waiting for our referral and our patience was wearing thin. Everyone kept saying that the perfect baby was just not ready and we would get our referral when she was ready, yada, yada, yada. Honestly I was getting sick and tired of waiting and the tetanus shot wasn't helping. There were three of us from our agency who had also been waiting for a baby girl since the end of June. One mom (michellesmiles) spoke with her caseworker earlier that day and pretty much got the feeling that we would be waiting longer. We were angry and disappointed to say the least.

Two years ago today imagine my surprise when the phone rang at 9:10pm and FTC came across the caller ID. I remember feeling like crap from the shot. I was getting ready to go to bed and when the phone rang I wasn't happy about getting it. I checked the caller ID, saw our agency, and answered the phone shocked. The agency owner asked if she woke me up. All I could say was no. There aren't many times when I am speechless but this was one of them. I was silent, wondering could this actually be it. I had played this moment over and over again in my head prior to receiving the call. I thought I would be excited and screaming uncontrollably but instead I was shocked and silent.

She then told us about a 'beautiful baby girl named Ana'. The rest of the conversation is a blur. I remembered her saying something about an email with the referral documents and letting her know if we would accept (duh of course we would!). Steve came up stairs and we immediately called our parents. I called my mom who was sleeping. My mom doesn't have a computer so she wanted to drive out to our house which is 30 minutes away. I was worried about her driving since she was sleeping and told her no. She decided she would go to the neighbors. Steve's parents came over to see pictures. So we waited and waited for the emails which seemed like an eternity. Finally they came through and when we opened up the first picture of Gabbie our lives changed forever.

This is one of the pictures we received that night:)

She was so tiny and perfect. In the pictures she was 3 days old, 5lbs 1oz and just 16.7 inches long. There she was our baby girl we had been waiting for.

This is Gabbie last year on 9/13/07 in her bed right after waking up. Excuse the bed-head!

This is Gabbie this year on 9/13/08.

She is still petite at 23.4 pounds, 34 inches and still our perfect baby girl. There are so many things I love about adoption. One of my favorites is celebrating all of the anniversaries. We have the referral anniversary (9/13), first time we held her anniversary (12/7), out of PGN anniversary (1/18), the day we held her forever anniversary (2/5), and the day she came home forever (2/8).

Today we celebrate the referral anniversary. It is such a special day to me. I cannot believe it has been two years already.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

I cannot believe the weekend is almost over. Why is it the weekends fly by so fast yet the week days at work are slow as can be? We had a really good weekend. Gabbie's hitting is better. It is surely not perfect, but definitely is getting better! I think I only got hit in the face twice this week, so I will take it!

Saturday we went to the STL Hispanic Festival. There was one booth with all Guatemalan stuff so we got a necklace, bracelet, a couple of hair things, and a ball for Gabbie. The lady at the booth asked us if Gabbie was from Guatemala and when we said yes, she said bless us a couple of times. Of course we have already been blessed with Gabbie but it was nice to meet someone from Guatemala who was truly happy for us and for Gabbie especially with all of the adoption rumors swirling around! I almost scored a Guatemala soccer jersey for Gabbie but the sizes were a bit too big. There are so many things I wish I would have bought while in Guatemala for her including a soccer outfit and more dresses, but I cannot find them anywhere:(

Today was Grandparent's Day so we went to grandma's house. We ended up going to a home store and IHOP. We normally don't take Gabbie out to dinner anywhere anymore as we have had quite a few meltdowns recently and once I even had to leave with her while daddy finished eating. She was pretty good though. I had to get up twice with her and take her to the lobby. Each time I warned her to calm her body down or we would leave if she didn't stop. Both times she stopped almost instantly and we returned to her behaving okay, or shall I say like a normal two year old! This morning at church she was an angel and even kneeled and crossed her hands like she was praying at one point! It was stinking cute! Now for some pictures.

Gabbie and Jack with her kitchen on her birthday! Notice how they are both on their tippy toes!

Gabbie and her monkey! She rocks it to get it to stop crying.

Hugging her monkey

Gabbie at the Hispanic Festival

Big time cheesing for the camera!

Gabbie at the store today on the rocking chairs

My favorite picture of all! Gabbie and grandma rocking. If you want this for your frame mom let me know. I love this pic!!!

Monday, September 1, 2008

I can hardly believe Gabbie is 2 years old today. As I got her out of her crib this morning and wished her a Happy Birthday my eyes filled up with tears for her birth mother. I cannot imagine the pain she must feel not just today but everyday. She was able to leave Gabbie some final words and based on these, I know there is no doubt that she loves Gabbie very much. She prayed Gabbie would have a family that loves her and she has that exact thing. I just wish her birth mother knew that.

I received a beautiful email from Gabbie's foster mother today. She always remembers these special occasions! Today we hung around the house and played with new toys. Gabbie took a 3.5 hour nap after being up so late last night. Tomorrow at school she still has one more birthday celebration and then it is officially over!

A couple of answers to the birthday party comments. The tutu is from your favorite place Rhonda, Gymboree! The whole outfit is from there actually. I already had the shirt and went in looking for the hair things when I saw the Tutu!

The cake was definitely not made by me! I can hardly make a grilled cheese!!! The cake is from a lady who makes cakes out of her home. She does a great job! Gabbie loved it!